Hermelin (Armoured Car)
Crew: 2 + 9 infantrists for transport *Length: 7.6 metres *Width: 3 metres *Height: 2.25 metres (without turret) *Mass: 25.75 tons *Main Armament: 1x 30mm EFWS-25 autocanon *Secondary Armament: 1x EFWS-11S machine gun (8mm) *Armour: Level 2b *Speed: 100 km/h (on street) *Range: 750 km The Hermelin, named after a cute little forest-critter famous for it's fur, is a workhorse for nearly every situation. However, this Wheeled APC's fur is anything but soft, instead very firm and holding of AT-mines up to seven kilogram of explosive mass under the centre. Since the Hermelin is a rather light vehicle for it's size, it can be transported by air and sea without problems and can even be airdropped from a plane. It is useable as an amphibious vehicle, up to 5.6 metres below the watersurface is possible, everything above/below is not recommended. The Hermelin was developed to be a transport platform and support for a Gruppe, or squad, of eleven soldiers (crew of the vehicle with additional responsibilities and nine soldiers), primarily for the heavy infantry. As time moved on, the EFWS-25 30mm-autocannon prooved it's worth against all kinds of matters, it's L/8-barrel and the rate of fire of up to two 2,000 rounds per minute (the rate of fire is selectable in step of 100 rpm, from 100 to 2,000) being as much of strong points as the muzzle velocity of 1,500 m/s and the remote control of the gun in the large aiming area without turning the turret. With this kind of main armament, the Hermelin was and is capable of taking down flying objects such as helicopters, Soon, the Flotteninfanterie (the Order's Marines) began to get interested, as did the Light Infantry, who both adopted the fighting platform in 2010. At the same time, the Rittertruppe began to phase out the Hermelin in favour of the heavier Weißwolf-IFV (see below), seeing that their need to be "the heaviest infantry wasn't satisfied anymore" (O-tone of General Schwerer, at the time highest officer of the Rittertruppe). Today the Hermelin is one of the most valuable assets of the Ritterheer and, if you choose so, your army, too, it's unmatched reliability in forests, urban terrains, deserts, snowscapes, mountains and many other kinds of terrain is nearly unmatched. However, we would lie if we say, that the Hermelin is the most awesome and best wheeled APC and has no flaws. In fact, it has flaws: To achieve the nearly unmatched reliability, the whole system is complicated to maintain and should be done by appropriately trained personell with matching tools. The 30mm-autocannon becomes unreliable with the highest rates of fire, so that most gunners choose to use something around 1,200 rpm as their standart rate of fire. The secondary machine gun, an EFWS-11S, mounted on a Fernsteuerlafette 15, has, due to it's position above the driver's seat, a rather limited area of fire. All in all, the Hermelin is a good and solid APC, useable for many things and coming by a good price and quality - it is definately not the best Wheeled APC in the whole wide world, but it is among the best for many needs.Category:Ritterheer Category:Military Vehicle (Ordensstreitkräfte) Category:Under Construction